Last Embrace
by OpheliaTheActress
Summary: Eponine never could express her love for Marius like Cosette but her time will finally come at the barricades. -One Shot. Bad summary, please Read and Review


They were under attack.

Gun powder filled the air as did the shouts and frantic cries of orders and prayers.

Eponine crouched from behind the furniture that made up the barricade with the other frightened men. She nearly jumped when she saw the guns that were being tossed in her direction to be reloaded.

As she starting reloading the weapon, all she could think about was the letter Cosette wrote to Marius. How true the words felt. It stung to know that she could not put her feelings into words like Cosette but she knew that she felt the same exact way about him.

She handed the gun back in midair so it'd be taken by whoever needed it in the time of crisis.

Marius grabbed it without even looking up at Eponine. She was used to this and yet it seemed to trouble her now as she watched him defend himself.

They were losing.

Eponine couldn't breathe as she saw Marius stand in front of her with no ammo left. Watching him grab the torch and the explosive, she saw it before he could. The rifle that aimed for his angelic face. That's when time went slow.

Her moment was now. It was his life or hers. She could live and possibly survive this without him or he could live a happy life with another woman without her. Then Cosette's note flashed in her head like lightning. Haunting her very sight. Why couldn't she display her love for him like she could?

She stood up and pushed all her obstacles aside, determined of her fate. Her purpose.

_I love him, but everyday I'm learning all my life I have only been pretending_

No, no more pretending. She was in love with him, so in love she can't see him go. She can't even stand the sight of a gun to his head.

She got in front of Marius, hoping to at least see his eyes before realizing what she was doing.

Her last cry, "No!" was all she managed to say before the thunderous shot plunged her chest.

Staring into the eye of her enemy, she washed him away with the tears in her eyes as she stumbled back trying prevent her from getting worse.

She was convinced it didn't hurt. That she was strong girl she had always been but once she took one more step, she fell to the ground near the barricade staring up rainy sky.

All drew silent. She could barely hear a sound due to the gunshot still ringing in her ears. Men of the barricade stepped back at the sight of the girl.

"Eponine," her ears were muffled but she knew exactly who it was.

Looking up ever so slightly, she saw the angel. Marius towered above her like a guardian.

Clutching the note in her hand. The note that contained the feeling she could never express until this moment, "It's from Cosette," she said as strongly as she could manage, "I'm so sorry," the pain grew from her chest to her abdomen and trying to stop the blood with her hand didn't seem to work anymore.

She watched as he looked upon the wound near her heart that covered her entire body, "What have you done?" He asked as he looked into her eyes and for the first time, it really felt like he was actually looking at _her_. Not the Eponine who ran errands for him. Not the Eponine that knew her way around but the innocent girl that had been there the whole time.

"Don't fret, Monsieur Marius, I really don't feel anything," she covered the wound and yearned to see those eyes again, "not even this rain could hurt me." she gave him a grin before the pain struck it's toll once again but she tried not to show it, "You're here with me, that's all that matters," she collapsed into his arms holding onto dear life, knowing that he will hold onto her until she gives out any moment, "Rain isn't all that bad, monsieur," she began to close her eyes.

Eponine had never felt so protected in all of her life. Here in his arms, she's never felt an embrace feel so right. All her life, it seemed, she had been waiting for him. And here he was. Protecting her, holding her close, and alive, "Oh but, Eponine, you aren't going so soon." he held her more upright to where their noses were almost touching, "Dear God, will my words of comfort bind your wound?" his words were so soft and they were for her. He was fighting to keep her awake.

Eponine was getting cold. Her vision was fuzzy but her heart still melted, "Just leave it be, monsieur, I don't feel any pain."

Marius recalled her saying before, "Not even the rain could hurt you now," offering his hand to her cheek, he saw the beauty in Eponine's twinkling eyes. How they shimmered and mocked the stars above.

Eponine was short of breath, "Monsieur, I have-" she clutched his offering as hard as she could, "-always been-in love-" she watched as he leaned into her.

Using the last bit of strength she had left she leaned in as well. She couldn't hold on much longer.

"-with you..." she gave her last breath.

Her eyes closed when their lips were only centimeters a part. Falling heavily into his warm embrace, Eponine had no other signs of life.

Marius shed the tears he had been holding in and looked around him.

All the men of the barricade have taken off their caps.

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**_A/N: I'm REALLY proud of this! Review!_**


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